The Bridge

The Bridge

Boys and Girls Dream of love,Manhood and Womanhood to DIscover a World of Violence !

1959 · 103 min · ★ 7.6 · Drama, History, War

A group of German boys are ordered to protect a small bridge in their home village during the waning months of the second world war. Truckloads of defeated, cynical Wehrmacht soldiers flee the approaching American troops, but the boys, full of enthusiasm for the "blood and honor" Nazi ideology, stay to defend the useless bridge. The film is based on a West German anti-war novel of the same name, written by Gregor Dorfmeister.

Directed by Bernhard Wicki · Written by Michael Mansfeld

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Criterion Channel

Rent or Buy

Apple TV StoreGoogle Play MoviesYouTube

Cast

Make it a double feature

3h 45m together

The Bridge

La Notte

Both from Bernhard Wicki.

More from Bernhard WickiSee all →

The Century of SurgeonsThe Century of Surgeons · 1972
The Century of Surgeons
★ 10.01972
SeriesDrama
A special insight into medicine presented on film: sterile operations, hospitals used to be built by the wind, anaesthesia, surgical gloves, similar to the films Sauerbruch or Kneip.
Affäre DreyfussAffäre Dreyfuss · 1968
Affäre Dreyfuss
★ 9.01968
SeriesDrama
The disaster began in the late summer of 1894, when a French staff officer appeared at the military attaché of the German embassy in Paris. He offers important military information at very high prices. A cover letter for this case ends up in the attaché's wastepaper basket. It is stolen. Investigations by the French Ministry of War incriminate Captain Dreyfus.
Paris, TexasParis, Texas · 1984
Paris, Texas
★ 8.11984
MovieDrama
A man wanders out of the desert not knowing who he is. His brother finds him, and helps to pull his memory back of the life he led before he walked out on his family and disappeared four years earlier.
The CommissionerThe Commissioner · 1969
The Commissioner
★ 8.01969
SeriesDramaCrime
Der Kommissar is a German television series about a group of detectives of the Munich homicide squad. All 97 episodes, which were shot in black-and-white and first broadcast between 1969 and 1976, were written by Herbert Reinecker and starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller. Keller's assistants were Walter Grabert, Robert Heines, and Harry Klein who, in 1974, was replaced by his younger brother Erwin Klein.
La NotteLa Notte · 1961
La Notte
★ 7.91961
MovieDramaRomance
A day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship in Milan.
The Longest DayThe Longest Day · 1962
The Longest Day
★ 7.61962
MovieWarDrama
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"
Königin LuiseKönigin Luise · 1957
Königin Luise
★ 7.51957
MovieDrama
Sansibar oder Der letzte GrundSansibar oder Der letzte Grund · 1987
Sansibar oder Der letzte Grund
★ 7.51987
MovieDrama
Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the paths of three people on the run cross by chance in the small Baltic Sea port of Rerig: Gregor, a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD); Judith, a Jewish woman; and a pastor who wants to save an Ernst Barlach sculpture classified as degenerate art. All those involved share a common fate and the dream of a fisherman's boy from Zanzibar, which is less a real goal than a utopia of a better future. Adaptation of Alfred Andersch's novel.
The VisitThe Visit · 1964
The Visit
★ 7.21964
MovieDrama
Carla Zachanassian had a child by Serge Miller as a teenager. When Serge refused to marry her, she was driven out of town. By her own wit and cunning, she has returned as a multi-millionaire for a visit. The town lays out the red carpet expecting big things from Carla, only to learn that her sole purpose is to see Serge Miller killed...
KidnappedKidnapped · 1979
Kidnapped
★ 7.11979
SeriesDrama
David McCallum stars as the rebellious Alan Breck Stewart, and this ambitious serial (a co-production between HTV and Germany's Tele-Munchen) also features a host of British character actors, including Bill Simpson, Patrick Allen, Andrew Keir, Patrick Magee and Frank Windsor. When young David Balfour arrives at his uncle's bleak Scottish house to claim his inheritance, his relative tries to murder him then has him shipped off to be sold as a slave in the colonies. Luckily for the lad, he strikes up a friendship with Alan Breck Stewart, who is on the run after Bonnie Prince Charlie's defeat at Culloden. When a ship's captain tries to kill Breck for his money, the two manage to get to land and set out for Edinburgh, dodging the ruthless Redcoats along the way.
I promessi sposiI promessi sposi · 1989
I promessi sposi
★ 7.11989
SeriesDrama
Set between 1629 and 1631. Renzo Tramaglino and Lucia Mondella are Lombard peasants forced to separate and endure a thousand vicissitudes because of the bullying of the squire Don Rodrigo. However, during their journey they will find various people willing to help them, from Friar Cristoforo to the Innominato, from Federigo Borromeo to Donna Prassede.
Crime and PassionCrime and Passion · 1976
Crime and Passion
★ 7.01976
MovieCrimeDrama
Financier persuades his mistress to marry a rich industrialist for his money, then discovers that he and the new wife are to be murdered by her new husband.
It Happened on July 20thIt Happened on July 20th · 1955
It Happened on July 20th
★ 7.01955
MovieDramaWar
A dramatic reconstruction of the July 1944 attempt by German Army Officers to assassinate Hitler with a bomb and end the war before Germany was totally destroyed.
Prisoners of LovePrisoners of Love · 1954
Prisoners of Love
★ 7.01954
MovieDrama
Willi and Maria Kluge married in the final days of World War II. Maria is deported to a camp in Siberia and does not return home until eight years later. She brings with her the child of a fellow prisoner, whom she gave birth to in the camp. This is a heavy blow for her husband Willi, who has been waiting longingly for her, but he takes her and the child in. She struggles to regain his love and trust, and eventually his masculine generosity prevails.
MorituriMorituri · 1965
Morituri
★ 6.71965
MovieActionDrama
A German living in India during World War II is blackmailed by the English to impersonate an SS officer on board a cargo ship leaving Japan for Germany carrying a large supply of rubber for tyres. His mission is to disable the scuttling charges so the captain cannot sink the ship if they are stopped by English warships.
Spring SymphonySpring Symphony · 1983
Spring Symphony
★ 6.71983
MovieMusic
"Spring Symphony" is the story of Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck. Both were music entities. Robert Schumann turns out to have been a second tier composer, if that, never rising to the heights of a Beethoven or Mozart. In contrast, Clara Wieck was a master technician in the playing of the piano, a composer (probably not at Schumann's level), and was a child prodigy.

More Like This

The Boy and the HeronThe Boy and the Heron · 2023
The Boy and the Heron
★ 7.42023
MovieAnimationFantasy
While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."
Platoon LeaderPlatoon Leader · 1988
Platoon Leader
★ 5.51988
MovieDramaWar
West Point graduate lieutenant Jeff Knight meets cynicism when taking command of sergeant Michael McNamara's tour veterans platoon in a Vietnamese trench camp. Unlike his predecessor, who hid till the end of his tour, Jeff takes charge, experiences the manual doesn't allow coping with all realities and gets wounded. He returns, now fully respect by men and superiors. Besides the Vietcong, the platoon wrestles with the inscrutable villagers, which the G.I.'s officially protect, but also fear as some collaborate with them, other covertly with the Cong, either way subject to bloody reprisals.
Certified CopyCertified Copy · 2010
Certified Copy
★ 7.02010
MovieDramaRomance
In Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged English writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano.
The Two of UsThe Two of Us · 1967
The Two of Us
★ 7.61967
MovieDramaComedy
A story of the caring friendship formed between a crusty, old anti-Semite and an eight-year-old Jewish boy who goes to live with him during World War II.
The Devil's RockThe Devil's Rock · 2011
The Devil's Rock
★ 5.62011
MovieFantasyHorror
Set in the Channel Islands on the eve of D Day, two Kiwi commandos, sent to destroy German gun emplacements to distract Hitler's forces away from Normandy, discover a Nazi occult plot to unleash demonic forces to win the war.
Manila in the Claws of LightManila in the Claws of Light · 1975
Manila in the Claws of Light
★ 7.41975
MovieDramaMystery
Julio, a young fisherman from a provincial village, descends into social alienation as he arrives in Manila to search for his loved one.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter